In a landmark case brought by the HRLC, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has held that Australia violated the human rights of a permanent resident, and breached its international legal obligations, by cancelling his visa and deporting him to Sweden.

On 13 October 2011, the federal government abandoned its plans to introduce the Migration Legislation Amendment (Offshore Processing and Other Measures) Bill 2011. The Bill sought to facilitate the implementation of Australia’s cooperative transfer arrangement with Malaysia concluded on 25 July 2011. Under the non-binding arrangement, 800 asylum seekers who have travelled to Australia by boat without visa documentation (or been intercepted at sea en route to Australia) would be transferred to Malaysia. Australia would in turn, over a four year period, resettle 4000 refugees currently living in Malaysia.